March 02, 2022

Icons of Democracy

March 02, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

Faced with the spectre of a civilization-ending clash between freedom and autocracy being played out in Ukraine combined with the dimming memory of our own people power event 37 years ago, we pay tribute this week to two senators, each of whom is an icon of resistance against authoritarianism.

The late revered Senator Jose W. Diokno, Ka Pepe to many, is remembered not only for his brilliance in the legal arena but also for his goodness as a person by veteran journalist/editor Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon. Ka Pepe would have been 100 years old this year.

Senator Leila de Lima marked her fifth year in a military jail unrelenting in her fight for justice while fulfilling her duties as a duly elected legislator even behind bars. We asked Paulynn P. Sicam, another veteran journalist, to update us on the senator's quest for another term.

The unclarity of our homeland's future in the next six years prompted Assad Baunto, a Mëranaw economist and a politically conscious cook to make "Political Palitaw," which is a commentary, a metaphor and a recipe all at the same time. His palitaw is based on the Tausug and Yakan peoples' Putli Mandi and comes in different flavors and colors, just like our politics.

A book that should be in every Filipino's shelf is Danton Remoto's Riverrun, a novel about a young gay man growing up under a dictatorship. University of Hawaii professor Patricio Abinales reviews the acclaimed novel.

In case you haven't watched this excellent talk by journalism professor Sheila Coronel on "Marcos and Memory" that we sent out as a special issue last Monday, here again is the link: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/marcos-and-memory

For the Happy Home Cook this week, check out Assad Baunto's instructional on making coconut-filled palitaw in his "Political Palitaw" article.

Video of the Week: To Sing Our Own Song, a BBC documentary

Philippine Elections 2022

Worst economic downturn took place under Marcos
https://manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/314207523/worst-economic-downturn-took-place-under-marcos-2.html

Tsek.ph flags false claims on polls, martial law
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1560078/tsek-ph-flags-false-claims-on-polls-martial-law?utm_source=gallery&utm_medium=direct

Yearstarter 2022: Out with the old, seeking the new
https://www.ibon.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/btys22-220204.pdf

Doctored video shared with false reference to Philippine presidential hopeful Marcos Jr.
https://news.yahoo.com/doctored-video-shared-false-reference-052934077.html

In The Know

The First Asian American Settlement Was Established by Filipino Fishermen
www.history.com/news/first-asian-american-settlement-filipino-st-malo?fbclid=IwAR1O2WQTCHCUwQ7u73ExOUyZhOKhrVCM80AMFyxekItppIL-9vGiM9YxfR4

Fox News And Others Called Eileen Gu A 'Traitor.' Here's The Truth They Won't Acknowledge.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eileen-gu-china-olympics_n_62154256e4b0ef74d727422c

First Contact: How Did The Spanish First Interact With The Filipinos?
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/first-contact-how-did-the-spanish-first-interact-with-the-filipinos-a2212-20200211-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220220-fbnp--first-contact-how-did-the-spanish-first-interact-with-the-filipinos-a2212-20200211-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1j4JwVkvKyxItOgK81KvJVNdQJfod74qxMLUIK_Lzbk05PDlf2XPN0ZP4

Inside Bunsoy, a Nostalgic Filipino Restaurant in Ballard
https://seattle.eater.com/2022/2/16/22938116/bunsoy-a-new-filipino-restaurant-in-ballard-seattle?fbclid=IwAR12VJwZdyU0As6LahTM4MWGtQ3ESie0B2UoCtVcOU6AaQLDzFuVVH7obq4

LOOK: This OFW Opened “London's Smallest Coffee Shop” Inside A Telephone Booth
www.yummy.ph/news-trends/joel-carlos-the-manila-brew-london-smallest-coffee-shop-telephone-booth-a00260-20220216?ref=home_feed_1%3Futm_source%3DFacebook-RealLiving&utm_medium=Siteshare&utm_campaign=20220218-Yummy&fbclid=IwAR1OcuHW5sPrlkI9Bo9IEWN8iCfOufuwnjHO3FkeoKE2yE8VFp0S5_OF8yo

Behind the Curse of Juan Luna's "Portrait of a Lady"
www.esquiremag.ph/culture/books-and-art/crimes-and-punishment-a1549-20170120-lfrm3?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220220-fbnp--crimes-and-punishment-a1549-20170120-lfrm3-fbold&fbclid=IwAR0Pnx9iMSMx8flTrArLMzzw-5WWJb6pvRltC-0lqa5l-DSnWc9Wz9MizHQ

Trolley school helps Philippine children keep studies on track
https://news.yahoo.com/trolley-school-helps-philippine-children-010626486.html

February 23, 2022

Life Choices

February 23, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

At certain points in our lifetime, we will come upon a crossroad (or several) that will force us to make a choice. Should I or shouldn't I? Do I get off the fence and risk a burning or do I stay put and risk irrelevance, or worse, regret?

The Philippine elections on May 9, 2022 is one such crossroad that calls on every Filipino to do his/her part in forging a better direction for the country. How to do it when one is far away? Former COMELEC chief Andy Bautista offers guidance in "How Overseas Filipino Voters Can Wield Clout in May ’22 Polls."

[To help you make your decision, check out the links we post below in the Philippine Elections 2022 section. And if you want to verify your registration to vote, here's our Partner post from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco.]

Around this time 36 years ago, our homeland confronted the motherlode of crossroads with the People Power revolt (aka EDSA '86) which led to the ouster of a dictator and a different political path for the country. No one who was there during that three-day uprising, like first-time PF contributor Ed Garcia, can forget what they did to help history along. Read his "On the Eve of Insurrection" and another EDSA story in “Read Again” below.

On a personal level, the choice one makes when in a crossroad can alter the course of one's life.

A young lawyer's summer job in a country district attorney's office changed his career path. Now Pelayo A. Llamas is slated to become the Superior Court Judge in Alameda County, California (he's running unopposed).

A third-generation Fil-Am in Seattle chose to parlay her environmental science degree into actual farming, and now, Ari de Leña supplies Filipino produce to restaurants, civic organizations and households in the area.

And a college student in the activist '70s, forced to endure a painful breakup, decided to focus on her career dreams and raise a family in Australia. Almost half a century later, she faced another crossroad when her teenage love returned and promised to stay.

Read Again

77 Hours: The Behind-The-Scenes At The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution by Gemma Nemenzo

The Battle Of Manila, WWII by James Scott

This year is the 77th anniversary of the month-long (February 3-March 3, 1945) battle to liberate Manila from the Japanese in WWII. Here's how it happened.

Recipe of the Week: Pan-Seared Halibut Fillet

Video of the Week: Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo by Doctor Influencers for Leni

Philippine Elections 2022

The People Economics Litmus Test: Economic Platforms For Whom?
https://www.ibon.org/pe-test-presidentiables-2022/

Crooks, kleptocrats and crises: a timeline of Credit Suisse scandals
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/21/tax-timeline-credit-suisse-scandals?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR3WN4BuGqHwmKyst2oNbnxExq2jjKI9nOToOcKb0mj_EQs7BMugYat3wJ0

Bankrupt
https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/02/16/2161033/bankrupt?fbclid=IwAR1oAIm7TllGzbyNA6w9psDcDnEJ1mO8UPxYaeZd5ST9QJrIwdDgFgCwXjM

Make climate change the issue in Philippine presidential election
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Make-climate-change-the-issue-in-Philippine-presidential-election?fbclid=IwAR1Xl96rmMX9SwMk-fFpnfsrk2AQ8syTWaHVjbvIkQvKji2I5IXfEJOIYjU

What Happened to EDSA?
https://opinion.inquirer.net/150079/what-happened-to-edsa?fbclid=IwAR3uVugB_gZ9ozA-t56JEOITMDzekC30mvafBZhqwVmqfCvU7rhc0erlmwQ

A cultural agenda
https://opinion.inquirer.net/150079/what-happened-to-edsa?fbclid=IwAR3uVugB_gZ9ozA-t56JEOITMDzekC30mvafBZhqwVmqfCvU7rhc0erlmwQ

People Power 36th Anniversary and the May 2022 Elections: Past is Future and Future is Past
https://narrativesofresistance.blogspot.com/2022/02/people-power-36th-anniversary-and-may.html?fbclid=IwAR3I7WJT4sbF_M8ToCymOPkonBM65leI2MPPok-lp98VjYem6N9DkDOCEZw

In The Know

The Philippines Has the World's Second Highest Number of Female Inventors
https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/philippines-has-second-highest-number-of-female-inventors-a833-sa00171-20220222-src-spot?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220222-fbnp-politics-philippines-has-second-highest-number-of-female-inventors-a833-sa00171-20220222-src-spot-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1HXYQ_8IGD3tGkl0Qe3T0gPvjsjdzKDfVVc7cnDj87qCy1nO5HJPTM-84

‘The Fabulous Filipino Brothers’: Dante Basco on How His Return to the Philippines Helped Tell His Story

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fabulous-filipino-brothers-dante-basco-000941075.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Roderick Hall: Obituary
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/roderick-hall-obituary?id=33037918

Jollibee debuts in Scotland with stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow
https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/jollibee-debuts-in-scotland-with-stores-in-edinburgh-and-glasgow/?fbclid=IwAR2zQBYsBA3hDPe1KnPt6QBL7X5wfDygT53E_THmoYtWHazjy-CYfzHqP7s

This is the place to order Filipino home cooking in Toronto
https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2022/02/10/this-is-the-place-to-order-filipino-home-cooking-from-in-toronto.html?fbclid=IwAR0mLE6RyYvK2in6d93Gt6KrcEDbx8LqiJZ23-UopZHAaS_lfv2FJdyPjcc

A Dose of History: The Glory Days of Philippine Society Before World War II
https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/the-glory-days-of-philippine-society-before-world-war-ii?fbclid=IwAR0bqbvGM6qRVozSEXr74j-wvG4qw2q9LIhtlIjRVrpbSY9rATjF-t5svbY

Filipino settlers’ descendants in Louisiana show ancestral pride in new HBO Max series
https://usa.inquirer.net/92703/filipino-settlers-descendants-in-louisiana-show-ancestral-pride-in-new-hbo-max-series?fbclid=IwAR1bHS5do3MjpGKF43QQMcFnvF9XNP4cj8WUdgOjamhkC1ONJltqnvt6Ptw

Harana Market: Woodstock’s Asian Grocery-Deli Offers Filipino Flavors To The Catskills
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2022/02/18/harana-market-the-dig/?fbclid=IwAR3FT-Vh5vBlyqKaZJH3BvZxFctjDUzBHrB6RUzHNGw9lLzwppyMkPAb5zc

February 16, 2022

Journeys in Place

February 16, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

With a force of more than 1 million ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines and over 23 million Filipinos of Chinese ancestry, our homeland can harness "people-to-people exchanges and solidarity ties" to cool down the tensions in the South China Sea, aka West Philippine Sea. This interesting though largely untested proposal is presented by UP professor Eduardo C. Tadem, who honors his Chinese roots in "Blood Could Be Thicker than Water in the South China Sea."

The pandemic lockdown in the Philippines, reportedly one of the strictest in the world, didn't faze five friends with interesting backgrounds to set free their creativity without leaving their homes. Channeling their common love of photography, the five men have come out with Journeyers, an impressive coffeetable book that our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, has been privileged to get. In "Journeyers: Five Men with Cameras Walk into the World," she give us a glimpse of the journeyers' journeys.

Speaking of journeys, now that the pandemic restrictions have been relaxed, how about visiting Romblon, a relatively untraveled province rich in natural resources and beauty, which has bred a National Artist, among other distinguished native sons. Retired Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. describes the province's many attractions.

There have been many stories about the Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, but here's first-hand testimony about how good a tango dancer he was, from the famous Arthur Murray himself. History buff Erwin R. Tiongson of the Philippines on the Potomac project digs up this fascinating historical vignette in "MLQ Loved Tripping the Light Fantastic at Arthur Murray’s."